Science Fiction, Ethics and the Human Condition (eBook)

Christian Baron is assistant professor at Center for Bioscience and Techo-Anthropology at the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University Copenhagen.  Originally trained in evolutionary biology and the history and philosophy of science, his areas of interest include the dynamics of biological controversies, the role of expertise and counter-expertise in in policy-advising and public debates on science and the premises for making moral claims. He is also the author of several science fiction short stories that has been published in DanishPeter Nicolai Halvorsen is student vicar at the Faculty of Health, University of Copenhagen and chairman of the Copenhagen University Network on Science and Religion. His mains areas of interest include naturalism Christine Cornea is a Lecturer with the Department of Film, Television and Media at the University of East Anglia. She is the author of Science Fiction Cinema: Between Fantasy and Reality (co-published RUP/EUP, 2007) and has published widely on science fiction film and television, including articles for Velvet Light Trap, Genders and the Quarterly Review of Film and Video journals. Christine has also published two previous edited collections and is currently completing a further monograph book for Rutgers University Press that focuses upon the post-apocalyptic television drama.

Contents 5
Chapter 1: Introduction: Science Fiction at a Crossroad Between Ethics and Imagination 7
Part I: The Science, Technology and Science Fiction 11
Chapter 2: The Perfect Organism: The Intruder of the Alien Films as a Bio-fictional Construct 14
2.1 Introduction 14
2.2 Bio-fictional Constructs 15
2.3 Context and Circumstance 18
2.4 Constraint and Contingency 20
2.5 Dissent and Consensus: The Navigations of the Scientist-­Director in the Face of Scientific Controversy 23
References 24
Chapter 3: Science Fiction at the Far Side of Technology: Vernor Vinge’s Singularity Thesis Versus the Limits of AI-Research 26
3.1 Introduction: What Is the Technological Singularity? 26
3.2 Predictions and the History of AI 28
3.3 Early Hopes of a General Problem Solver 29
3.4 Automated Versus Human Theorem Provers 30
3.5 Human-Computer Cooperation 35
3.6 A Race with One Horse 38
3.7 Implications for Ethics 40
3.8 Conclusion 42
References 43
Chapter 4: A Greenhouse on Mars 46
4.1 Introduction 46
4.2 Planned Missions 47
4.3 Ethical Considerations 48
4.4 Colonisation in Science Fiction 49
4.5 Science Fiction Literature on Mars Colonisation 51
4.6 Science Fiction on Colonisation of Other Solar System Bodies 53
4.7 Terraforming 55
4.8 Housing and Facilities on Mars 56
4.9 Food Production 58
4.10 Conclusion 60
References 61
Chapter 5: Fascinating! Popular Science Communication and Literary Science Fiction: The Shared Features of Awe and Fascination and Their Significance to Ideas of Science Fictions as Vehicles for Critical Debate About Scientific Enterprises and Their Ethic 64
5.1 Introduction 64
5.2 Science Fictions in Popular Science Communication 65
5.2.1 Genetics and Eschatology 66
5.2.2 Cancer: “The Endgame Has Begun” 69
5.3 Ideas of Realism in Science Communication 71
5.3.1 Science and Realism 72
5.3.2 The Dominant Didactic Paradigm of Science Communication 74
5.3.3 Scepticism, Science and Science Communication 76
5.3.4 Science Visions and Fictions 78
5.4 Science Fictions as Vehicles for Critical Debates? 80
References 83
Part II: Identity and the Post-Human Condition 86
Chapter 6: Our Serial (and Parallel) Selves: Identity in the Age of the Transhuman 89
6.1 Introduction: The Self in a (Post)modern World 89
6.2 Singularity and Transhumanism 91
6.3 Transhuman Identity in Science Fiction: Some Examples 92
6.4 Parallel Selves: Speculation or Metaphor? 95
References 96
Chapter 7: Commodified Life: Post-Humanism, Cloning and Gender in Orphan Black 98
7.1 Introduction 98
7.2 Legislative and Juridical Biology 99
7.3 IVF, Cloning and Kinship 103
7.4 Making Monsters 111
7.5 Conclusion 114
References 115
Chapter 8: Religion in a World of Androids and Aliens: Life and Death in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and Prometheus 117
8.1 Introduction 117
8.2 Blade Runner: Entering the World of Hollywood Theology 118
8.2.1 I Want More Life 119
8.2.2 Narrative Plots in Blade Runner 120
8.2.3 Replicants as Fallen Angels 122
8.2.4 The Transformation of Lucifer 123
8.2.5 Adam and Eve 125
8.2.6 The Postmodern and the Romantic 126
8.2.7 Religion, Life and Death 128
8.3 Prometheus: Full-Blown Hollywood Theology 128
8.3.1 Creation and Birth in Prometheus 130
8.3.2 Death in Prometheus 131
8.3.3 Cross and Sacrifice in Prometheus 132
8.4 Conclusion 134
References 135
Chapter 9: I Am Omega Man: Religious Repositioning of the Secular Apocalypse Film in I Am Legend 138
9.1 Introduction 138
9.2 Where Have All the Vampires Gone?: Textual Reorientations of Matheson’s I Am Legend 140
9.3 Turning Vampires into Zombies: Ideological Representations of the Monstrous Other 143
9.4 Religious Symbolism at the End of The Last Man on Earth and The ?mega Man 146
9.5 The Religious Reconfiguration of I Am Legend 148
9.6 Religious Community Versus the Secular Individual in The ?mega Man and I Am Legend 151
9.7 Conclusion 153
References 155
Part III: The Politics and Ethics of Science Fiction 156
Chapter 10: From Isolationism to Globalism: An Overview of Politics and Ethics in the Hollywood Science Fiction Film 159
10.1 Introduction 159
10.2 1930s–1960s: Securing the Nation 160
10.3 1970s-Present Day: From Nuclear Holocaust to Eco-catastrophe 167
10.4 Conclusion 177
References 178
Chapter 11: Reinventing Utopia: Politics and Ethics of Choice in the Works of Kim Stanley Robinson 180
11.1 Introduction 180
11.2 The Humanists: A Cyberpunk Invention 181
11.3 Reinventing Utopia 182
11.4 2312: The Glimpse of a Utopian Program 184
11.5 Utopia on Mars? 186
11.6 Mars on Earth? 187
11.7 Science in the Capital 188
11.8 Alternate History 189
11.9 Galileo’s Dream 191
11.10 Politics and the Ethics of Choice 191
References 193
Chapter 12: The Final Frontier: Survival Ethics in Extreme Living Conditions as Portrayed in Tom Godwin’s The Cold Equations and Ridley Scott’s Alien 194
12.1 Introduction 194
12.2 Frontier Situations in the West and in Science Fiction 195
12.3 The Cold Equations: Recklessness and Negligence 198
12.4 Ridley Scott’s Alien: A Survival Test of Different Behavioural Types 200
12.5 So, What Is the Point of Frontier Ethics? 203
References 204
Chapter 13: The Politics of Post-Apocalypse: Ideologies on Trial in John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids 205
13.1 Introduction 205
13.2 End of Empire 207
13.3 Social Experiments and Micro Societies 210
13.4 The Piccadilly Circus Mob 211
13.5 The University Expedition 212
13.6 Coker’s Patrols 213
13.7 Tynsham 215
13.8 Charcott Old House 216
13.9 Shirning Farm 216
13.10 The Brighton Militia 217
13.11 The Sceptered Isle of Wight 218
References 223
Chapter 14: On Ustopias and Finding Courage in a Hopeless Situation 225
14.1 Introduction 225
14.2 Atwood’s Ustopias: A Close Reading 227
14.2.1 Intermingling and Ambiguity: Perspectives and Character 228
14.2.2 Two Utopian Gardens: Paradice and Edencliff 230
14.3 From Science Fiction to Ethical Vision 234
14.3.1 Current ‘Real Life’ Issues 235
14.3.1.1 Climate Change 235
14.3.1.2 Biotechnology 236
14.3.2 Atwood’s Text in Relation to Today’s Discussion 238
14.4 Perspective, Ambivalence and Human Nature 240
14.4.1 Ustopia as a Guide to Ethical Action 242
14.4.2 Hope 242
References 243